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The Corpus of Life and the Phenomenon of Death in a Traditional Igala (African) Religious Society

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The Corpus of Life and the Phenomenon of Death in a Traditional Igala (African) Religious Society International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE) Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2018, PP 35-42 ISSN 2349-0373 (Print) & ISSN 2349-0381 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349-0381.0508006 www.arcjournals.org The Corpus of Life and the Phenomenon of Death in a Traditional Igala (African) Religious Society Okpe Nicholas Ojoajogwu, Ph.D* Department of Religious Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba, P. M. B. 1008 Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria *Corresponding Author: Okpe Nicholas Ojoajogwu, Ph.D, Department of Religious Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba, P. M. B. 1008 Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria Abstract: It can be asserted that the most important subject matter among the Igala people like many other societies in Africa circles around life. In other words, everything seems to revolve around projection and preservation of life. For this reason, even when somebody dies, it is believed that he or she is still alive based on legacies, achievements, children etc that the person must have acquired during his earthly life. Thus, people struggle to maintain this essential of what makes a human being whether alive in bodily form or in spirit. And if by any chance, one gives in to bodily decay, ceremonies are arranged to project his continuous existence in the land of the dead. Furthermore, beyond the life of an individual is the community life, which is very important in Igala society. It is believed that nobody can exist in isolation. Hence to be alive means to be part of community undertakings and interactions. This paper looks at the various understanding of corpus of life among the Igala, while examining what is considered enemy of life, which is death. Death, among the Igala, especially that of young people is perceived as anomaly and as such enemy to life. This is because, unlike the elderly that are celebrated by ceremonies when they pass on from bodily existence as forming the ancestors, young people do not easily qualify to be. In this case, the death of a young person is considered a short-change since he or she might not have acquired all that is needed to be considered alive after bodily death. This paper examines the meaning of life as well as its categories, and types of death which is considered enemy of life. Keywords: Life, Death, Igala, Religion, Society 1. INTRODUCTION Igala is a socio-cultural group among the settlers within the confluence of the two Nigerian rivers of Niger and Benue. The name Igala represents the language, the people and the Kingdom itself, and this is the only form that is being used by the people themselves. As a language, Igala belongs to the Kwa sub-group of languages with enormous characteristics of Bantu sub-group of the same Niger-Congo family. The Igala kingdom is marked politically by its well established central administration before the European expedition in Africa. Igala is situated in today‟s Kogi State in the middle-belt region of Nigeria, and is in fact, the largest ethnic group in the state. They are a people whose social organization and value systems are generally similar and who recognize one paramount king as their political ruler. The 1991 population commission of Nigeria projected Igala to approximately 1.8 million people, which by now (considering the time of writing) could probably be about 2.5 million. Igala is about the 9th largest ethnic group of the about 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria. Igala as a homogenous group inhabits a geographic area with a common language, which though having various dialects nevertheless creates no problem of understanding among them. The cultural patterns of life are identical, closely related, based on similar cults and social institutions. Igala traditional religion believes in one supreme God, known as Ọjọ, who is responsible for everything in this world and the next. In his studies on Igala people, R. Seton (1930, XXIX), understands Ọjọ as the creator of everything and lives in the sky, where are many other people. He first put one man and one woman in the world with tree between them…These two lived together, and in the course of time the woman gave birth to twins, who, in turn married and also had twins. These twins are the parents of all living people. The above and many other reasons of common denominators reasonably consider Igala as one ethnic community. Within the geographic demarcation, the Igala recognizes two main regions: the Idah and International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE) Page | 35 The Corpus of Life and the Phenomenon of Death in a Traditional Igala (African) Religious Society Ankpa, which could be well described as south-west and north-east of the Kingdom. The settlement and village life of Igala is very coherent, often cohesive, linked together by a variety of interlocking socio-cultural factors. The ancient town of Idah, the Igala capital which is situated on the river Niger has a symbolic political and social character. The written records and oral tradition from the early part of the nineteenth century exploration indicate that many people‟s trace their rulers‟ descent to Idah, where the affairs of this riverine area for many centuries were being controlled from. Although, the activities of the riverine area were in the hands of Igala, the Kingdom cannot be described as riverine Kingdom in the strict sense of the word. This is because a great part of the Igala Kingdom is not aquatic. The reason for such control, as J. Boston (1968, 6) noted, was largely due to the organized social systems of the Kingdom. The rich social, cultural as well as organized administrative systems enhanced its influence and demographic assimilation of the neighbouring ethnic groups. The strategic position of the kingdom is a key and significant factor in its historical development and social influences. The geographical position of Igala brought them in contact with many other groups and cultures, including the Ibo, the Yoruba, the Edo-speaking peoples, the Jukun, and the Idoma, to name only the principal groups. 2. THE CORPUS OF LIFE AMONG IGALA Beyond the phase of individual life is the community base of human existence. This means that for an individual life to be meaningful, it must be realized in a community; in the community, the individual becomes meaningful towards himself and other people. And this is what Abanuka (1994, 49) would mean as: “…the root of one‟s self-awareness and the desire to give meaning to the fundamental problems of human life and existence is one‟s self understanding as an individual who realizes oneself in a given community”. This aspect of Igala understanding of life as community is shared across many cultures in Africa as also observed by Mbiti (1991, 92): “When an individual suffers, he does not do it alone but the corporate group; when he rejoices, he rejoices not alone but with his kinsmen, his neighbours and his relatives whether dead or living. When he gets married, he is not alone, neither does his wife belong to him alone. So also the children belong to the corporate body of his kinsmen, even if they bear only the father‟s or mother‟s name”. This further suggests that whatever happens to the individual happens to the society he belongs, and whatever happens to the society happens to the individual as well. It is only in this way that the individual is capable of saying: „I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore, I am‟. The above significance of individual and the role of the community are further reasoned by Abanuka (48) as forming the indispensable organ of an African society in which “the attainment of meaning takes place in the interiority of the individual. The meaning of the individual‟s presence in the community comes to its highest point when the individuals realize not only that their life and death are particularly theirs, but also that they must live their life and die their death in the community”. This is to stress that the importance of community in Igala does not override the necessity of individual identity; the whole is made out of singles. The reality of a community and its survival as a social institution is enhanced by the contributions of her members as individuals with variety of potentials. This rhymes with Gbadegesin‟s (1991, 64) clarification that, “the usual rendering of this to the effect that the individual in traditional societies is crushed by the almighty presence of the community is not the whole truth. Of course, individuals are valued in themselves and as potential contributors to communal survival….emphasis is placed on usefulness for self and community and not on wealth or strength.” Thus, it could be argued that if individual uniqueness were not recognized, how could we have powerful figures? Furthermore, the importance of individual for community or group set-up is emphasized by the fact that each person bears a specific name, even other than that of his parents. Consequently, current studies of African cultures in terms of dynamism of language and its adherent modus operandi as in folktales, proverbs, riddles and other ways of transmission of knowledge have shown that their usage is closely tied to the role and importance of individual as well as the group. 2.1. Life as Marriage and Procreation One of the important concerns of the Igala is that a person ought to get married so that his name will be carried on. As such, if an Igala person reached the age of marriage and refused to be married International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE) Page | 36 The Corpus of Life and the Phenomenon of Death in a Traditional Igala (African) Religious Society without any reason, he or she cannot be treated with dignity.
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